You are right. That Silverface does sound like the 70s. To me the Brownface sounds like the ideal Motown amp. And the black, of course, sounds like whatever you need. I think it sounds the most high fidelity.
I have a 1963 Princeton. It certainly is sparse in terms of it's control panel, but it's enough to work with. It's a step back in time to a very authentic sound. The addition of a Boss Reverb pedal takes it to another level, without the cost of buying a larger vintage amp.
@@brookhoover1384 It's the original speaker, a 10" Oxford 10J4. It is the brown tolex model, in very good condition for it's age, and I've always assumed it was from 1963, built before the reverb model came out. When I bought it, many years ago, someone had installed a master volume control. However, for technical reasons, this became problematic, so I had an amplifier technician restore it to it's original specs. I have used it for some recording, and some practice, but mainly it sits in the loungeroom, a beautiful little antique, safe, and gaining value as the years go on. 😎🎸
I have the brother you are missing: a 1966 blackface “Princeton Amp”. It has the tremolo but not reverb. And without the reverb circuit, it’s a totally different character. Clean headroom to 10. Maybe I could get it to overdrive a bit if I played a humbucker guitar and really hit the strings hard, but it’s mainly a clean amp. They used to have the nickname the Mini Twin.
Love it! I got bit by the vintage amp bug when I scored a 67 Super Reverb in 2017. From there I managed to land a 62 brown Princeton, 64 Vibro Champ and a 65 Deluxe Reverb. Been on the hunt for a BF Princeton Reverb but man have they gotten expensive! The Vibro Champ really surprised me though! Great natural tube breakup at reasonable volumes. Interesting how the reverb on your silver Princeton sounds more cavernous and “big” sounding over the black Princeton. Love em all, cheers!
Good for you! I test and compare amps all the time and love the Fenders. That Princeton sounds cool. BF PR is not that great of a thing but they are sure nice to look at. If you have a silverface you are golden. Thank you for checking me out!
HI! I am way into the silverface line of amps. Love the way they look and sound. Can easily mod to blackface specs if needed. I have a Super Reverb coming in that is a '68 with drip edge! I really like drip edge Fenders!
Brownface all the way. Beautiful warm and balanced tone, it's like the sound of tasty molten chocolate. It can be sparkly without being piercing. The tremolo it's also a thing of beauty, not other fender Tremolo sounds like that.
Brother Brook Each is nso unique. I really liked the 70's model until you plugged back into earlier amps. Whiskey Tango... They each produced their own rare sound. I agree- I couldn't pick one over another. Were they all tube or was the 70's transistor? Thanks for sharing these When I play in the park with the strat I use a pig nose with a DOD Distortion pedal and a Boss chorus fx. These let me fake almost anything. At home I have a 90's Princton chorus. With the on-board reverb and adding the wha-wha pedal I can hit every 10th note like Hendrix LOL
I have had a ball playing on solid state little amps, we used some on our 5th studio album return of the Skeleton. Adding FX just makes it more fun. These are all hand wired tube amps Wayne. Eventually many amps have become printed circuit board or digital. They do impress me too, fun to play those modern amps! I am pretty much a troglodtye so these brutes are my tribe. Ha ha! You are welcome brother Wayne!
@@brookhoover1384 no. Not a troglodyte. Even with my damaged hearing there is a certain quality that comes out of a tube. My grandfather used to repair old short wave radios... but used a SS model in his kitchen. He had them set side by side and hooked up the same speaker... they were totally different animals (but sad enough wouldn't help me in this era). It's cool to watch those tubes glow too! Anyway- I dig these insightful videos. Thanks again
I have a pig nose. I still use it with a Korg PX2. The PX2 is a very small guitar effects processor about the size of an iPod. It only takes two AA batteries. I got both in the 90’s. Both are still going strong. I also have a Squier mini Strat that I modified and put 3 humbucker pickups in it. The only other things I need are a looper and maybe a cheap wireless transmitter and receiver.
@@anthonymiller3970 i feel so behind the curl... all my fx plug ins weigh at least 3 lbs. I'll take a look at your recommendation for sure. And about the pig nose- doesn't it put out a rich sound for such a small box? I usually open it up towards my audience and in front of my case... seems to project really well that way in an open space Cheers
black sounds best to be, I really like the bright sparkly-ness of it, others sound kinda bland in comparison, though I also have a marshall studio vintage which I can get a lot of warmer sounds out of so it's probably just that I'm looking for a something different to that. but still I do think the black face sounds the prettiest
they all have the same tremolo- all princeton's "wiggle" the output tube bias.. The brown should be the only different one here- Nothing major happened during the silverface era to the "small box" fenders (Vlux on down)- what a great set of amps!!!!
Hi Buddy! What are the differences in the circuit between the Black and the Silver faced amps? Both sound good, silver sounded brighter to me... Brown sounds muffled in comparison. Cheers from Brazil!
@anthonymiller3970 I have owned two of them. I never bonded with them because I think the tiny speaker really limits the sound, especially when you push it. I tested the second one against a Blues Junior and preferred the Blues Junior by a wide margin.
Hey thanks for the demo! Have you tried instead cranking up the amp volume and turning down the guitar volume? That should make a huge difference, at least on the brownface.
Hi Luca, Yes is a bigger room or onstage I love to crank the amps up and use volume knob on guitar to dial in a clean sounds then roll it up to a roaring good saturation level. You know what's up! Thanks for checking it out.
I like the sound of the middle one the best except the hum and it has the best sounding tremolo and the 1970s one on the right comes in 2nd, the first is good of course. I'm glad to see someone demos them with a Gibson! Stats and Teles are good for certain music but I'm sick of seeing them all the time.
I've got a couple of SF Princeton Reverbs and love them. Seems the speakers are a little tired. Had great luck with SF Deluxe Reverbs for sure. I also have a Champ that is nice and loud.
Tempting but it would flub out the camera and ears. I played a gig with shockingly low stage volume tonight. They had to mike my amp and run me through the monitors. My ears are so roached! It's the only way I can keep going but will crank it on occasion or use a hotplate or power soak.
Oh man, I'd make an exception for that! When on stage with earplug screwed way in I might crank 'em like on a last song once a year. I'm super spooked. My ears ring a lot. Starting to say "what?" a lot too
You are right. That Silverface does sound like the 70s. To me the Brownface sounds like the ideal Motown amp. And the black, of course, sounds like whatever you need. I think it sounds the most high fidelity.
They are all great and you are fortunate to have these vintage amps!
Thank you I treasure them! Been playing out using some black face Vibro Champs too.
for anyone curious and impatient:
0:14 Brown Panel
1:42 Black Panel
3:04 Silver Panel
That is very cool! Thanks!
Brownface amazing
I'm really into them! Have a couple of Bassmans and a Deluxe build that I really like.
I have a 1963 Princeton. It certainly is sparse in terms of it's control panel, but it's enough to work with. It's a step back in time to a very authentic sound.
The addition of a Boss Reverb pedal takes it to another level, without the cost
of buying a larger vintage amp.
Oh ya! I gig with mine all the time. Is your brown? Treasure it! What speaker do you have in there Russell?
@@brookhoover1384 It's the original speaker, a 10" Oxford 10J4.
It is the brown tolex model, in very good condition for it's age, and I've always assumed it was from 1963, built before the reverb model came out.
When I bought it, many years ago, someone had installed a master volume control. However, for technical reasons, this became problematic, so I had an amplifier technician restore it to it's original specs. I have used it for some recording, and some practice, but mainly it sits in the loungeroom, a beautiful little antique, safe, and gaining value as the years go on. 😎🎸
I have the brother you are missing: a 1966 blackface “Princeton Amp”. It has the tremolo but not reverb. And without the reverb circuit, it’s a totally different character. Clean headroom to 10. Maybe I could get it to overdrive a bit if I played a humbucker guitar and really hit the strings hard, but it’s mainly a clean amp. They used to have the nickname the Mini Twin.
Same here buddy! It’s a full clear sound, but I used to have to 9 it when playing with a rock drummer … Who songs etc.
Love it! I got bit by the vintage amp bug when I scored a
67 Super Reverb in 2017. From there I managed to land a 62 brown Princeton, 64 Vibro Champ and a 65 Deluxe Reverb. Been on the hunt for a BF Princeton Reverb but man have they gotten expensive! The Vibro Champ really surprised me though! Great natural tube breakup at reasonable volumes.
Interesting how the reverb on your silver Princeton sounds more cavernous and “big” sounding over the black Princeton. Love em all, cheers!
Good for you! I test and compare amps all the time and love the Fenders. That Princeton sounds cool. BF PR is not that great of a thing but they are sure nice to look at. If you have a silverface you are golden. Thank you for checking me out!
That’s awesome! What’s your favorite out of the four you own?
Here, the Silverface sounds far the best for me with your beautiful P90 SG Junior 🤝👍🤝
HI! I am way into the silverface line of amps. Love the way they look and sound. Can easily mod to blackface specs if needed. I have a Super Reverb coming in that is a '68 with drip edge! I really like drip edge Fenders!
Brownface all the way. Beautiful warm and balanced tone, it's like the sound of tasty molten chocolate. It can be sparkly without being piercing. The tremolo it's also a thing of beauty, not other fender Tremolo sounds like that.
Brother Brook
Each is nso unique. I really liked the 70's model until you plugged back into earlier amps. Whiskey Tango...
They each produced their own rare sound. I agree- I couldn't pick one over another.
Were they all tube or was the 70's transistor?
Thanks for sharing these
When I play in the park with the strat I use a pig nose with a DOD Distortion pedal and a Boss chorus fx. These let me fake almost anything.
At home I have a 90's Princton chorus. With the on-board reverb and adding the wha-wha pedal I can hit every 10th note like Hendrix
LOL
I have had a ball playing on solid state little amps, we used some on our 5th studio album return of the Skeleton. Adding FX just makes it more fun. These are all hand wired tube amps Wayne. Eventually many amps have become printed circuit board or digital. They do impress me too, fun to play those modern amps! I am pretty much a troglodtye so these brutes are my tribe. Ha ha! You are welcome brother Wayne!
@@brookhoover1384 no. Not a troglodyte. Even with my damaged hearing there is a certain quality that comes out of a tube. My grandfather used to repair old short wave radios... but used a SS model in his kitchen. He had them set side by side and hooked up the same speaker... they were totally different animals (but sad enough wouldn't help me in this era). It's cool to watch those tubes glow too!
Anyway- I dig these insightful videos. Thanks again
I have a pig nose. I still use it with a Korg PX2. The PX2 is a very small guitar effects processor about the size of an iPod. It only takes two AA batteries. I got both in the 90’s. Both are still going strong. I also have a Squier mini Strat that I modified and put 3 humbucker pickups in it. The only other things I need are a looper and maybe a cheap wireless transmitter and receiver.
@@anthonymiller3970 i feel so behind the curl... all my fx plug ins weigh at least 3 lbs. I'll take a look at your recommendation for sure.
And about the pig nose- doesn't it put out a rich sound for such a small box? I usually open it up towards my audience and in front of my case... seems to project really well that way in an open space
Cheers
@@anthonymiller3970 I was always tempted to humbuck my strat... but the routing out scared me. Do u have any recordings online with that setup?
black sounds best to be, I really like the bright sparkly-ness of it, others sound kinda bland in comparison, though I also have a marshall studio vintage which I can get a lot of warmer sounds out of so it's probably just that I'm looking for a something different to that. but still I do think the black face sounds the prettiest
Ya the brown face ones have a little more grit. I'm not using Princetons at the moment but will probably get them going again soon.
they all have the same tremolo- all princeton's "wiggle" the output tube bias.. The brown should be the only different one here- Nothing major happened during the silverface era to the "small box" fenders (Vlux on down)- what a great set of amps!!!!
Very nice!
Thanks for checking it out. I need to step up my production skills a lot but it was fun to try!
Hi Buddy! What are the differences in the circuit between the Black and the Silver faced amps? Both sound good, silver sounded brighter to me... Brown sounds muffled in comparison. Cheers from Brazil!
So useful thanks!
For sure! I have come to the conclusion that all older Fender tube amps are wonderful. I like them all!
I had a 1970’s silver face Champ. I wish I would have never sold it.
I have a '79 that sounds really good
@anthonymiller3970 I have owned two of them. I never bonded with them because I think the tiny speaker really limits the sound, especially when you push it. I tested the second one against a Blues Junior and preferred the Blues Junior by a wide margin.
Hey thanks for the demo! Have you tried instead cranking up the amp volume and turning down the guitar volume? That should make a huge difference, at least on the brownface.
Hi Luca, Yes is a bigger room or onstage I love to crank the amps up and use volume knob on guitar to dial in a clean sounds then roll it up to a roaring good saturation level. You know what's up! Thanks for checking it out.
I like the sound of the middle one the best except the hum and it has the best sounding tremolo and the 1970s one on the right comes in 2nd, the first is good of course. I'm glad to see someone demos them with a Gibson! Stats and Teles are good for certain music but I'm sick of seeing them all the time.
Thanks for checking it out! The brownface one I use live a ton. Gibson into a Princeton is a great recipe
Cool man'
jolly attitude 😄
Thanks! I think being involved with guitars, music cool songs and nice people is the key to happiness! Appreciate you!
Brownface 🎉
That is where it's at
For me nothing beats the Silverfaces……
I've got a couple of SF Princeton Reverbs and love them. Seems the speakers are a little tired. Had great luck with SF Deluxe Reverbs for sure. I also have a Champ that is nice and loud.
Let's hear these bad boys cranked??
Tempting but it would flub out the camera and ears. I played a gig with shockingly low stage volume tonight. They had to mike my amp and run me through the monitors. My ears are so roached! It's the only way I can keep going but will crank it on occasion or use a hotplate or power soak.
I hear you. I own a 62 Deluxe. A most amazing amp, and can rarely even turn it up
Oh man, I'd make an exception for that! When on stage with earplug screwed way in I might crank 'em like on a last song once a year. I'm super spooked. My ears ring a lot. Starting to say "what?" a lot too